


Take It From Me

by Crossroads_Blues



Series: Legacy-verse [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: BAMF Pepper Potts, BAMF Tony Stark, Civil War Team Iron Man, F/M, Long Lost/Secret Relatives, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Not Steve Rogers Friendly, Parent Tony Stark, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, not team Cap friendly, not wanda maximoff friendly, villain wanda maximoff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:28:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23546137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crossroads_Blues/pseuds/Crossroads_Blues
Summary: Reboot of *my* previously orphaned work "Actually, Fuck You!" - linked as inspiration.Tony Stark was broken during Civil War. His teammates turned on him and the person he considered to be one of his closest friends crushed his chest with a vibranium shield. It was shortly afterwards that Tony found out he had a daughter, got tired of Steve's bullshit and decided to take back control of his life and try to build a family once more. Team Cap is making a mess of things, especially Wanda who has some plans of her own, but Tony has people to support him now - his fiancee, who is also a badass CEO, and his newly found daughter.Mind the tags:)
Relationships: Harley Keener & Peter Parker, Harley Keener & Tony Stark, Helen Cho & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Original Female Character(s), Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Steve Rogers & Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Original Female Character(s), Tony Stark & Stephen Strange
Series: Legacy-verse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1694545
Comments: 19
Kudos: 91





	1. Death Of A Bachelor

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Actually, fuck you!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14689371) by [orphan_account](https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account). 



> I was young and stupid when I wrote and shortly afterwards orphaned "Actually, Fuck You!". I've regretted orphaning that work so much so now that I (hopefully) learned how characterization and English in general works and I stumbled upon "Actually, Fuck You!" through the tags and cringed at it a little bit, I decided to rewrite it and complete it this time, because it's quarantine. The first couple of chapters are not copy-paste of the fic, they are a rewrite, changing some key plot details (because, once again, young and stupid), lifting some things from my orphaned work. Since it's my orphaned work I feel allowed to do that, but I still marked it as inspiration. The first chap is a rewrite of the first two chapters of "Actually, Fuck You!".

“Mr. Stark, there is something interesting you must see,” said FRIDAY, skipping the pleasantries, as Tony entered the workshop. The mechanic was grinning, happy after the press conference-turned engagement celebratory lunch. Happy was in short supply for Tony Stark and he took everything he could get.

“Lay it out. Side note: if it’s about Captain My Captain, file it until tomorrow. I am so not in the mood for dealing with him today.” Tony grabbed a can of coffee from one of the cluttered workspaces and settled on the workshop couch, bringing up the hologram screen with a swift movement of his hand. 

“I found out about it by pure accident and it’s completely unrelated to Avengers’ business.”   
“Huh.” Tony’s brow arched. “Well, do tell.”

“Stark Industries’ program for gifted youngsters, LEGACY?” started FRIDAY. “In Terms and Conditions, it says that Stark Industries will pay for any treatment if a medical incident occurs during the program. One of the members of the program, Anna Brands, cut her arm when she fell off the ladder while trying to reach for a chemical reactant from the top shelf in a LEGACY facility. She was taken into a hospital to stitch it up, where her medical card was pulled up. Since you asked me to keep tabs on the LEGACY program, I took the liberty of looking into her medical history, just to make sure that the medications won’t cause any allergies and I found an allergy to Verbumus-A. It’s a chemical used in some painkillers.”

“The doctors did take the note of that, right?” Tony pulled up his login screen into LEGACY database.

“Yes, but that’s not what I find interesting about this.”

“Hm?”

“The allergy to Verbumus-A is present in 0.0001% of population, is hereditary and you have it.”

Tony froze for a second, realising what FRIDAY was implying. “You’re not saying that-” 

“Anna is an orphan,” interrupted him FRIDAY, “but I pulled up her dead parents' records. Actually, her parent, as Anna’s dad is unknown. Well, Anna’s mother, Lana Brands, died six years ago, when Anna was eleven. Lana was a journalist. You and her actually met, she had a pass to a science conference in Paris in 2003, where you were giving a lecture on integration of magnetic levitation into auto transport. Whatever happened after is beyond my knowledge.”

“Give me some pictures.” Tony’s breathing became rapid and shallow. 

Hologram appeared in front of the man. The picture was of a woman in her 

thirties, big grey eyes, puckered lips and ivory skin. Her blond hair was pulled up in a fancy hairdo as she smiled at something behind the camera.

“That’s her picture in 2000,” narrated Friday and another picture appeared, “And that’s Anna.”

Brown hair. Big deep brown eyes. Full lips. Honey skin. Arched brow.

“Fuck. I did get intimate with Lana.” Tony got up from the couch and started pacing around the lab. “Friday, did you check the pregnancy dates?”

“Yes Sir. They align perfectly. While it’s impossible to know for sure without a paternity test, I calculated an approximate 82 percent chance that Anna Brands is your child,” said FRIDAY.

“Miss Potts is approaching,” she added a second later.

“Mute.”

The pictures disappeared. Tony pushed his lips together and turned around on his heels to greet Pepper, who was entering the lab. “Pepper! Hi!”

Obviously that sounded fake, since Pepper cocked her head to the side and gave Tony a confused look. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, totally.” The genius started fiddling with a random tool lying around on the table.

“Okay, something is wrong.” Pepper smiled knowingly. “What happened?”

Tony feigned confusion. “Nothing. Nothing at all.”

“Tony, I know you too well. It’s okay, you can tell me.” Pepper put her hands on Tony’s shoulders.

Tony took a deep breath. Pepper would find out later on anyway. There is nothing that could stay hidden from this woman for long. “I… I have a child.”

“You what?!” Pepper took a step back, her eyes widening.

“I have a child,” repeated Tony, slower. “A daughter. She’s seventeen. I think.”

Pepper plopped on the couch. “How did you find out?”

“Fri?” 

FRIDAY took that as a cue to recount the story. After the AI was finished, Pepper leaned back on the couch and sighed heavily. “I knew one of your one-night-stands would have consequences.”

“Yeah… Pep, am I supposed to go meet her? Or would she be better off-“

“I think she at least deserves to know.” Pepper got up and approached Tony, looking directly in the man’s eyes.

“Anna Brands is still at the hospital,” piped in FRIDAY.

“Are you mad at me?” asked Tony, ignoring the AI.

Pepper bit her lip. “No,” she finally said. “You changed a lot. I can’t be mad at 2020 Tony for what 2003 Tony had done. You’re practically a different person.”

“Thank you,” quietly said Tony.

After a brief pause, Pepper took a step back. “We should hurry up if we want to catch her there.”

“You’re coming with me?”

Pepper smiled slyly. “I feel that as your fiancée I should be present. Plus it might be better if I get her somewhere private when you will tell her that you’re her father. No offense, but you tend to draw a crowd everywhere you go, and it would be just fair to give her some privacy to process.”

“None taken, square deal. Meet you in 10 in the car?”

Pepper nodded. 

“Thank you one more time,” said Tony before she left the workshop. She didn’t reply but just smiled. For Tony, that was enough.

  
  
  


Pepper, donning her signature sunglasses and black pantsuit made her way through the busy hospital hall to a thirty-something woman in t-shirt with Stark Industries and LEGACY program logos, who was sitting on one of the benches in the waiting area.

“Miss-” Pepper glanced over the woman’s badge, “Rosewood, right?”

Rosewood nodded. Pepper slightly lifted her sunglasses and gave her a small smile. “I’m Virginia Potts.”

Rosewood blushed. “It’s an honor to meet you, Miss Potts.”

“Thank you. I’ve been informed that you’re here with Anna Brands, LEGACY student. I’ll take it from here. Here is a signed fax from your supervisor to make it official.” Pepper handed the woman a piece of paper. After Rosewood spent a couple of seconds skimming over it, she nodded and pointed Pepper towards the ER.

“Please finish up with the paperwork and then you’re free to go.”

Pepper smiled at the woman and found her way to the ER department, quickly locating the girl. She watched from afar as the nurse finished wrapping up Anna’s arm. After she was done, Pepper walked towards the girl, closing the curtains which were separating the hospital bed from the rest of the ER.

“Hi,” Pepper said loud enough to get the girl’s attention. Anna raised her head, startled by a visitor. Pepper took off her sunglasses. “I’m Virginia Potts.”

Anna’s eyes widened. “The Virginia Potts? CEO of Stark-“

“Industries. Yeah, that’s me. I need to talk to you about something. But first, how is your arm?” Pepper sat on the bed near Anna.

“Good, I can leave in ten-ish minutes. They said it’ll heal in a month or so.”

“Nice, SI has prepaid another visit to the hospital later on to check up on it. I don’t want it infected.”

“Thanks,” a bit absent-mindedly said Anna. 

“Anyway.” Pepper hesitated for a second. “Can I call you Anna?”

“Sure”

“Anna, how about I give you the ride back to the LEGACY facility or wherever else you need to go, since classes are over? There is someone who wants to meet you, he’s waiting in the car. I’ve already talked to Miss Rosewood.”

Anna exhaled loudly. “Thank you. I’m sorry if I seem a bit distant, it’s just a bit overwhelming. Because it’s you and you are Virginia Potts and it all is a bit much and I don’t understand why-“

“You will. I promise you’ll understand everything.” Pepper gave the girl a warm smile. “Now, how about we get you checked out?” 

* * *

  
  


Tony waited anxiously in the car, looking through the tinted window at the hospital’s entrance. “FRIDAY, please tell me where the fuck are they, cause I’m starting to get-” he cut himself short, because it was at that time that he saw Pepper gracefully descending from the stairs of the hospital with Anna by her side. Tony froze. He never thought about having family, having kids. And yet, here he was. Meeting his daughter, who looked so much like him that it hurt. He saw Anna peer into the windows of the Mercedes , where Tony was in the driving seat. Three… Tony began the mental countdown in his head, as Pepper and Anna were crossing the parking lot the car. Two… He saw Pepper tell something to the girl. One… The door of a passenger seat opened and Anna climbed into the car. 

“Tony Stark?! Uhm… uh… hello Sir! Why- why would you want to meet me?” Anna was very excited. Pepper gave Tony an encouraging nod from outside of the car, behind Anna. They had decided that Pepper will wait outside until Tony actually tells Anna.

“Hi,” he said warmly, trying to hide his shaking hands. “Anna, right?”

“Yeah, Anna Brands. Sir, it’s very nice to meet you-“

“Likewise, they tell me you are a very very promising LEGACY student.”

Anna blushed. “Thank you, Sir.”

“That’s not quite why I wanted to talk to you though. I wanted to talk to you about… your father.”

Anna froze and stared at Tony. “I never knew him,” she said coldly, a bit taken aback.

“Okay… I’m sorry if i’m being too intrusive but did he leave or…”

“He left. When I was two. I never even got a phone call. Why are we discussing my father, Sir?”

Tony pushed his lips together for a second. “Anna…” he said very slowly. “Can you answer one more question and then I’ll tell you what all of this is about?”

Anna took a deep breath. “Okay.”

Tony turned around to better face Anna and he started speaking, putting big pauses between words. “What if your mom lied and your dad never left you when you were little, but instead, he didn’t even know you existed, because your mom never contacted him?”

Anna froze again. “Well, in that case…” She hesitated. “He can’t be really blamed, can he?”

“Anna, I’m very sorry that you must only find out about this now, but I felt like you have the right to know. And I don’t really know how to say this, so I’m just gonna say this…” Tony deeply inhaled, trying to steady his heartbeat. “I am your father,” he said in one breath.

“What?!” Anna’s eyes widened. “You’re-“

“Yes.”

“How long have you known?”

“Uh two hours-ish?”

The girl sighed. “All these years she’s been telling me my father was a nameless asshole who left when I was two… while my father has been you.”

“I am sure your mom had her reasons. I’m not exactly what you would call parent material.”

“She had no right.” Notes of anger flashed through Anna’s voice.

“Listen, I understand that this is hard and very sudden for you,” said Tony, “But I want you to know that I will do as you say. If you tell me that you want to leave and never see or hear from me again, then so be it, I’ll understand. If you tell me that you want to get some time to digest it, then, again, I’ll do exactly as you say, I can drop you off wherever. But, if I may, I really want to talk things over, so whenever you are ready, just give me a call, come to the Tower for lunch, let’s talk it all over.”

Anna stayed silent for a couple of minutes. Tony started losing hope, feeling that at any given moment, the girl will turn around, get out of the car and leave, because she didn’t want to be around him-

“Can we go right now? To the Tower” Anna interrupted his thoughts.

“Uh, yeah, gladly.” Tony was visibly confused, with his brow slowly crawling to an upward position.

Anna saw that as a prompt to explain her decision. “I don’t want to go back to the orphanage. Why do you think I spend all my time at LEGACY?”

It was at that moment that Tony noticed a large bruise on Anna’s shoulder. Anna noticed him flinch slightly, when he saw the wound, and she thought that it was terribly odd, for a person, who had never met her to already feel so protective of her.

“Is that-” Tony gestured towards the girl’s shoulder, “from there?”

Anna nodded. “I talked back to a guy who broke my science project, he gathered his friends and well, that happened. Today was supposed to be part two. So… for me, anywhere is better than there.”

Tony quietly growled. “You are not returning there.”

Anna arched her brow in a way that was far too similar to Tony’s. “How? They are my legal guardians. I mean, yeah, they don’t do any guardian-ing, but by law-”

“I could take full custody of you. After a paternity test and fixing some legal issues- Only if you don’t mind of course. You can live in the Tower, never seeing me, if you don’t want to, and never go back to the orphanage,” rambled Tony.

“Wait. Are you offering me to live in the Stark Tower?”

“Yes.”

“With you?”

“If you don’t want to, you won’t even notice I am there. Pepper will watch over you, I’ll stay out of your way. It’s just- I don’t want you in the orphanage. But you are free to do-”

“Please stop repeating that I understood that you don’t want to be persistent.”

Tony nodded. “Yeah, persistent, that’s the word. So…”

“I accept, but with one condition. I will come but I don’t want you to ignore me. I realize that it’s all shocking for both of us, but, I’d really like to have a father.” Anna offered a smile.

Tony’s face brightened up. “Very well then.” He tapped at his watch. “FRIDAY, I want full custody by the end of the day. Get our legal team, make them sign NDAs, offer them very very big bonuses. I’ll fax them the paternity test from the Stark Industries’ licensed lab when we reach the Tower.”

”Yes boss. And hello, Anna, I’m FRIDAY, it’s nice to meet you.,” replied FRIDAY and Tony saw Anna’s expression go from confused to even more confused.

“Uhh, that’s my AI,” hastily said Tony, and added, noticing Anna’s wide eyes. “I got some explaining to do, haven’t I?”

Anna slowly nodded. 

“Well, then buckle yourself in. Tony signaled Pepper to get into the car.

“I’ll tell you all about it on the road,” he finished after Pepper was seated in the back seat.

And with these words red Mercedes drove out of the alley, scaring a couple of pigeons on its way out.

  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Welcome To The Jungle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna meets the residents of the Stark Tower and gets a chance to showcase her hacking abilities when things go south.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! This is a rewrite of chapters 3 and 5 of the original work, with revisions and additions. I do try to keep everyone in character and keep everything realistic but I am having some trouble with writing uh humans, so go easy on me please:) Hope you enjoy!  
> Also, I'm gonna be posting for sure once a week, I will try to pump that up to twice a week, but for now Wednesdays are update days but bonus updates on other days may happen.  
> The work is not beta'd so all issues are on me.

“So, you say that Friday has access to how many satellites?” asked Anna, while Tony shut down the hologram screen, which he was using to explain the principles of FRIDAY to Anna for the last hour, right after he sent the positive paternity test to his legal team.

“I kind of lost the count, since she hacks them by herself, but I think we are up to 650?” answered Tony, still not believing that it was his daughter with him in his lab.

“Actually, Boss, it’s 764,” replied FRIDAY from the ceiling. Anna slightly flinched at her voice.

“So yeah. By the way, don’t worry, you’ll get used to her if you’ll stay. She scares everyone when they first meet her.” 

“Uh-uh,” agreed the girl absent-mindedly. And what’s that?” Anna nodded towards a circular metal container with a ‘Very Hazardous’ sticker on its top.

Tony coughed to cover up his sigh. “That’s, that’s just some hazardous materials. And that’s a special container for hazardous materials. Which I recommend you never open or even touch, as the materials inside had been known to deal permanent damage to the heart and ribcage.”

“What kind of materials? Like Uranium?” Anna approached the container, gazing at it.

“Uhh…” Tony didn’t want to lie, as he hated being lied to by his parents, but he couldn’t tell the truth either. Nobody knew about Siberia yet, except for FRIDAY, who called a pre-determined contact, arranged hospital stay, made everyone involved sign NDAs and did her best to cover it all up from Pepper and Rhodey. Well, thinking of it, there was another person who knew and it was thanks to her that Tony was still alive.

“Boss, your Chinese takeout had arrived. Do you wish to join Ms. Potts, Mr. Rhodes, Mr. Parker, Mr. Keener and Vision in the penthouse?” Tony’s search for a suitable white lie was interrupted by FRIDAY.

“What do you want to do, Anna?” he asked the girl, hoping to distract her from the container.

“Mr. Rhodes as in James Rhodes, the War Machine pilot?” Anna’s face lit up.

Tony laughed warmly. “Yeah.”

Anna let out a small squeal. “That armor is so awesome! No offense, but grey and black look slightly better than red and gold. Slightly.”

Tony raised his eyebrows. “Mean, but okay.”

“I’m sorry, this is just all so exciting. I mean Stark Tower?” Anna gestured around vaguely. “This is like a whole new level of awesome.”

“So you wanna eat with everyone else?”

“Totally!” Anna’s expression became slightly more serious after she said that. “Can I ask you a favor though?”

“Anything, as long it’s not a federal offense, in which case I’m gonna need a bit more paperwork.”

“Let’s keep the fact that I am your daughter under wraps for now. I just need to get comfortable with the idea-“

Tony shook his head. “Yeah, I totally get it. It’s your call. How about we give you an alias of a LEGACY intern? I have two of those here, Peter Parker and Harley Keener, the first one always hangs around here and I provide accommodation to the last one. You know, invest in the future.”

“Yeah that’ll do.” Anna smiled. “Is there a place where I can freshen up a bit?” 

“Yeah, you have your own quarters. FRIDAY will guide you towards them and then towards the common room, I’ll join you in ten minutes,” replied Tony and watched Anna walk towards the elevator. Just before she entered it, she looked back at Tony. “Thank you,” she said as the elevator doors closed in front of her.

Tony lingered watching the elevator for a few more moments and as he was turning around to clean up the workshop a bit before he left, it happened. Pain striking his chest almost like a thousand knives, deafening and blinding it swung through every cell of Ton’s body, feeling worse than a cardiac arrest. 

“Fri...” coughed out Tony, dropping on the floor and clutching his shirt, “Blackout...”

The lab’s windows went dark. “Boss, I read a heart anomaly, do you want me to call down Miss Potts or-”

“Call...” Tony noticed that there was blood in his cough. “...Cho... Call Helen... Cho...” “Yes Boss, shall I inform Miss-”

Tony pulled himself onto the sofa. “No!” he shrieked and coughed profusely after it.

“Don’t tell them anything…” he said, using up the last of his strength. And then there was nothing but darkness.

* * *

Monotone pop music was playing quietly in the corridor as Anna, following Friday’s directions (“Your other right, Miss Brands”) finally reached the elevator, which opened as she approached it.

In the elevator there were no buttons, but the doors closed anyways and the elevator started moving up. Anna’s quarters were on the floor just below Tony’s lab and they were perfect. Panorama windows with a view of New York’s skyscrapers, a spacious bedroom with an adjacent bathroom and a small office. Obviously, they were guest quarters, Tony didn’t yet have time to add a personal touch, but Anna did find two clean white t-shirts and a pair of jeans in the wardrobe. Courtesy of Pepper Potts, she supposed

“I control everything in this Tower, so if you need to get anywhere just tell me where you want to go and I’ll take you there,” informed her Friday, as the doors opened, leaving Anna to stand awkwardly in the middle of the common area, where the team had already gathered, except Tony.

“Hi.” Anna smiled shyly and gave people around the table a small wave. She knew most of them: she saw Colonel Rhodes and Vision in their appearances as New Avengers (totally didn’t fangirl internally over the James Rhodes) and Pepper was the first Stark-related person she met. The only ones unknown were two boys aged fifteen or sixteen with brown hair: one with lighter and the other one with darker. She guessed that those two were the interns Tony was talking about.

"Hi, Anna!" greeted her Pepper and then turned around to introduce her to the rest of the people, "This is Anna, she is Tony's-"

"LEGACY intern!" quickly filled in Anna, just in case that Tony didn't get the memo to Pepper yet. "I'm Anna Brands, LEGACY intern. Nice to meet you all."

Pepper raised an eyebrow but then decided to go along. "Yep, just as I was saying. Anyway, Anna, do you know where Tony is? Food is getting cold and we don't want to start without him."

Anna shrugged. "Mr. Stark told me he'll be here before me, but I guess he is just finishing up in the lab." 

Pepper exchanged glances with Rhodey. "Can you go get him, please?" she asked Rhodey, who nodded and with ease walked to the elevator, but Anna couldn't help but notice the quiet but present mechanical whirring that followed his every step. Must've been prosthesis to help him walk after his fall, she thought, remembering the statement New Avengers released after the Leipzig situation.

“Anna, take a seat. Let me introduce you to everyone.” Pepper gestured towards the empty chair between the intern with lighter hair and Vision. 

"I'm Vision. Hope you will like it here, Anna," said the red android with a British accent, "The one that went to get Tony is James Rhodes, the War Machine pilot."

_Duh, it’s James Rhodes._ Anna was a huge fan girl of War Machine ever since she was a kid.

“We have two LEGACY interns here, I’m guessing you haven’t met them,” continued Pepper. Anna shook her head. “Must’ve been different teams.”

“Anyway the ones next to you is Harley Keener, the other one is Peter Parker.”

Anna smiled at the boys. Peter gave her a small wave while Harley nodded.

The elevator doors opened again. Inside was Rhodes, alone. He approached the table with a strange concerned look on his face. “Pep, can you come down there for a sec?” he said quietly leaning over the redhead. 

“Did something happen?” she asked.

Rhodes’ eyes quickly glided over the three interns at the table. “No, everything’s cool. Just need to steal Pepper for a second.”

Pepper offered an apologetic smile. "Start without us, we'll be right back," she said as she followed Rhodes to the elevator.

“So,” said Vision, trying to break the tense silence, “how was everyone’s day?”

Nobody really answered her, everyone seemed very focused on their bowl of noodles, shooting worried glances at the elevator from time to time. Just out of politeness, Anna mumbled something that sounded like ‘fine, thank you, Mr. Vision’ and then stared at her plate. She didn’t know why, but she became really upset inside when Pepper left. There was a feeling in her gut like something was terribly wrong but she couldn’t pinpoint exactly why she felt this way. That feeling was so intense that it even pushed panic that was building up from meeting all these new people and feelings of being overwhelmed by all the new developments. 

Anna stopped poking her noodles with her chopstick and glanced around. Vision seemed as tense as an android could seem while Peter and Harley stayed silent. Anna didn’t know if it was because of her presence or because of Tony, Pepper’s and Rhodes’ absence.

“I need to go to the ladies’ room,” she finally blurted out, standing up from the table, “Be right back.”

Followed by Vision’s gaze, she walked towards the elevator. Once the doors opened on the lower levels, she ran as fast as she could to the workshop. As she was nearing it, she saw Pepper and Rhodes standing in front of opaque black doors, looking angrily at the ceiling. The girl pulled herself behind the corner, careful not to make a sound. 

“I apologize, but-” FRIDAY’s robotic voice was interrupted by Pepper. Anna furrowed her brows. 

“Just let us in!”

“I have explicit orders from Mr. Stark not to.”

“Fuck your explicit orders, Fri! The man is not alright and he needs help!” said Rhodes.

Anna froze. What did Tony hide?

* * *

“What’s wrong, James? Is it Tony? Is he- Oh please tell me that he’s not-” practically screamed Pepper as Rhodes dragged her through the maze of corridors on the lower levels of the Tower.

“No- I don’t know! After his trip to Siberia I don’t even know! He is fine one second then the next second he is crushing everything in the workshop! The workshop is on the blackout, my override is not accepted, Friday doesn’t speak to me and Tony doesn’t answer any of his seven cellphones! And I’m afraid it’s _that_!”

Oh god. Pepper’s heart skipped a beat. They both knew what _that_ was. That was when Pepper used her override to get access into the blacked-out workshop and found Tony blasting TVs, screens and polished metal tables with repulsors, shortly after the Siberia situation. She never told Tony she had seen it, but she told Rhodes about it in hopes that he could shine some light on the situation. Pepper hoped he knew what happened in Siberia. Turns out he didn’t as well, but he shared Pepper’s concern and admitted to her that Tony had changed drastically since that trip. And he, just as Pepper, believed that Siberia was much more than checking out his old safe house, as he had told them.

They finally reached the workshop and Pepper with trembling fingers tapped in her override code

“Access denied. I’m sorry, Miss Potts, but the lab is on full lock down,” informed FRIDAY from the ceiling.

“Fri, you better accept my override and let me in.” almost threateningly growled Pepper.

“I apologize, but-” 

“Just let us in!”

“I have explicit orders from Mr. Stark not to.”

“Fuck your explicit orders, Fri! The man is not alright and he needs help!” shouted Rhodes.

“He’s getting it, Colonel,” replied Friday.

“He’s getting it? From who? Friday, tell us!” commanded Pepper.

“I’m sorry, Miss Potts. I cannot.”

Rhodes exhaled loudly.

“There must be another way to open up the lab. James, does it have a manual switch or something?” asked Pepper, pacing around in circles.

“He removed it after Cap used it once,” replied Rhodes, leaning against the door.

“I may be able to help.” Rhodes and Pepper turned around to see Anna standing behind them. “I think Friday has a small loophole in her security protocol, that allows to temporarily disable her by tricking her into thinking her files are being deleted and initiating the Self-Preservation protocol. She cannot fix it herself, as the loophole is in her primary programming that she is unable to access. I told To-, ah, Mr. Stark about it, but I don’t think he fixed it yet.”

“How much have you heard?” asked Rhodes, stomping towards her, “Everything that we’ve said is confidential and you’re not to mess around with Friday’s code-”

“James-” Pepper approached him from behind and put hands on his shoulders, slightly moving him away from Anna. “James, it’s okay, she won’t tell anyone.”

“How do you know, Pepper?” snapped Rhodes and turned back to glaring at Anna, “How can we trust her? She is the new intern and threats these days come in all sizes! What if she is from a renovated Red Room or Hydra academy?”

“She’s not, believe me-”

“Well, how do you know, Pepper? We didn’t notice Natashalie tricking everyone here!” Rhodes shook Pepper’s arms off him.

“I just know it!”/”I am his daughter!” said Pepper and Anna at the same time.

“I am the daughter of Tony Stark,” repeated Anna slowly, “He is my father and I want to help him if he has problems as much as you do.” She felt strange saying that out loud, but she could get used to it, she thought.

Rhodes stood there dumbfounded. Then he slowly turned to Pepper. “Pep, is she really?” she muttered.

Pepper nodded and said, “Yes. We just found out today.”

“What?” Rhodes covered his eyes with his hand and exhaled loudly.

“I'll fill you in later. Now, Anna, is it true that you can let us in?” Pepper turned to Anna.

Anna thought for a moment and then said, “I don’t know how to do that. I think I can get us security feed though.”

Pepper and Rhodes exchanged glances. “Follow me. I’ll take you to the server room, where you can hook up a laptop,” said Pepper after a second of silence and rushed back to the elevator.

Half an hour later, Pepper, Rhodes and Anna were leaning over a laptop screen, which now displayed Anna leaving the workshop. Pepper came up with an excuse for other teammates that she had to fill out some paperwork with Anna and Rhodes said to everyone that he had a headache and that he went to bed early. Basically, no one had any suspicions when the trio didn’t participate in the movie night organized by Vision.

“There. I’m exiting the workshop and…” Anna stopped talking as the footage went black with green stripes. Corroded.

“Friday must’ve corroded it. Or it’s just our luck,” said Pepper, “Skip the corroded part, see what’s the next thing that happens.”

The next thing they saw was no one else than Helen Cho stepping inside a crack in the wall, which disappeared right after she passed through it. 

“Is that a hidden elevator?” asked Rhodes, “That must be what Tony has been building for a week after his trip. Why does Helen Cho even have access to it?”

“I don’t know,” replied Pepper, “It doesn’t matter. We’re going to Cho Labs. I’ll drive!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave kudos and a comment, they brighten my day! Go easy on me with the critique, please:)


	3. Friction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth of what happened to Tony is revealed as two unexpected allies appear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well...Thanks for sticking with me since the last update, COVID got in the way and my school moved exams closed by two weeks so I had to take care of that. Next week's update might be shaky, but after that I'm done with school so I will post in a more organised fashion! This is the last chapter to include the story that was covered in the orphaned version so it's free sailing from now on!  
> Not beta'd, so all mistakes are on me:)  
> Enjoy!

Anna didn’t even know that you can get from one point of New York to another one in fifteen minutes. Another thing she and apparently Mr. Rhodes didn’t know was that Pepper was a very good driver.

“Get out of the car and follow me. I’ll handle it,” ordered Pepper once they reached the entrance to Cho Labs.

In the next couple of minutes, Pepper managed to sneak them in through a hidden backdoor directly to the upper story of the building, avoiding the security downstairs. “Not so long ago Stark Industries used to own this building,” she explained to them, while they were running up the stairs, “I knew they’ll forget to change the code on this door. I didn’t know about this passage until four years into SI ownership of the building.”

The building’s upper floor was quiet and dark. The trio made their way through the long corridor, following Pepper to Helen Cho’s private lab and office, the only door that was lit up with muffled voices being heard through it.

Rhodes and Anna fell a bit behind as Pepper rushed to the entrance of Cho’s lab, pushing the last guard inside and then running inside herself and in the next second they could swear the building slightly trembled, as a loud scream exited Pepper’s mouth.

“What the fuck?”

* * *

_An hour before._

‘‘Ughh…” Tony’s head felt heavy and dizzy. He slowly opened his eyes, the white ceiling and a lamp above him coming into focus. He turned his head to a side, taking note of the wires coming from underneath his shirt and looked around. Tony recognized the room, it was Helen’s private lab, right at the top of Cho Labs. It was here that Helen patched him up after the Siberia incident. “What happened?” he asked nobody in particular, unsure whether there was anyone to answer. 

“Hi,” said Helen Cho, leaning over him. I’ve got you down in my lab,” she said, glancing at the monitor next to him, “your heart-”

“Fuck.” Tony’s mind whirled, the events that led him into such a situation became clearer in his memory. “How long has it been since FRIDAY called you? Did anyone see me here?” Tony tried to sit up, but Helen held him down.

“Two hours or so, and no, nobody saw you, it’s past the end of the workday, only two security guards are here and they didn’t see anything, but please stop moving-” Helen Cho stared at Tony who was frantically scanning the room. 

“Shit, two hours! That’s- that’s, jeez, I need to call her, screw it, I don’t know her number, crap, Helen if you could just get me a taxi or something or lend me a car that’d be great.” Despite Helen’s efforts, Tony was removing the sensors from underneath his shirt. He wanted to pull out his IV drip (he could do that without harming himself, he had medical training), but Cho covered it with her hand and stopped him.

“Tony… you’re, you’re not going anywhere, your heart can’t take it! I can’t even let you sit up, much less stand or walk!” slightly raising her voice at the end said Helen, looking at him, gently putting the sensors back on his chest.

“What do you mean?’ he said and stopped moving abruptly. “It used to be fine, you patched me up after Siberia…” Tony suddenly felt weak and allowed his head to fall back on the examination table.

“I did, but something triggered the decay of the cells today. I’ve never seen anything quite like it to be honest. I’m keeping it at bay for now with very watered down Extremis in your drip, but I’m not sure when or if it will ever stop.”

Tony’s eyes widened, as the shock set in. His brain sped through the disbelief stage letting itself be occupied by the solemn realization.

“Thank you for saving my life then. Tell me everything now, without sugarcoating,” he said quietly, maintaining steady eye contact. 

“I’m not sure of the cause of it yet, but all the cells I fixed with the Cradle started decaying today. Your sternum is falling apart at the seams, together with your heart. I’ve sent out an order for a heart transplant, but-” Helen stopped herself, letting the words hang in the air.

“But what?”

“I am not sure whether that would be the solution. As I said, it’s not clear what caused such a reaction, so it may continue even after the transplant.”

Tony exhaled loudly and closed his eyes. This couldn’t be happening. His mind raced, trying to frantically come up with possible solutions, with ways to fix himself. He dismissed the thought that Helen Cho made a mistake. Tony knew her well, and he knew that the chance that she was wrong was minuscule but he couldn’t believe that he was dying. Not today, he thought, not today. He felt happy for once that day, it wasn’t fair of… life, of fate, of whatever did that, to take it away from him. Anna was probably mad as hell at him for ditching her mere hours after he met her. 

“I’m dying, aren’t I?” he finally said. The words were easier to say than he thought they would be. 

Helen lowered her gaze. “I’m sorry. I will do anything I can to save you, I promise. Do you want me to call someone?

He shook his head. “Give me my phone, please. I can use my phone, right?”

“Only if you promise not to raise your heartbeat.” Helen reached out for a smartphone that was lying nearby but suddenly stopped, staring at something on the other side of the room.

”What?” impatiently said Tony, trying to catch a sight of whatever Helen was glaring at, but Helen just gestured to him to be quiet. And then he saw it as well. Orange sparks in the corner of the room, forming a circle. The circle grew in size and when it was big enough, a man in a red cloak stepped through it. 

“Dumbledore?” Tony asked, staring at the man’s face, trying to remember where he saw him before. 

The man didn’t answer, but instead glanced back over his shoulder into the portal and shouted there, “Please do hurry up.”

“Coming!” replied somebody from the other side of the portal in a voice that was way too familiar. The voice was then followed by a figure in a long black fashionable coat and with long carefully styled black hair.

“Reindeer games…” Tony exhaled loudly. He lost track of the Asgardian after his last alleged death and while he felt that Thor was more aware of his brother’s whereabouts, he didn’t press the issue.

“Hello to you too, Man of Iron.” Loki nodded and slightly raised his hands showing that he didn’t have any weapons.

“Dr. Stark, Dr. Cho. I’m Dr. Stephen Strange, that is Loki Laufeyson. Please do excuse us for barging in, but we don’t have much time,” said the man in the cloak.

Stephen Strange! That’s right! Tony remembered the story of a genius surgeon who went MIA. He knew a bit about him, mostly things he pieced together from the archives of SHIELD on the Sorcerers of Kamar Taj. He also was pleasantly surprised by the latter using the Doctor title. Many people forgot that he had earned two Ph.D’s. 

“You’re Sorcerer Supreme?” Tony asked him.

The man nodded. If he was surprised by the fact that Tony knew him, he certainly didn’t show it. “I am. I realize you may be wary of my… associate. I assure he is up to no malicious intent. We’ve been working together on neutralizing magical threats to Earth.” 

“Sounds legit,” scoffed Tony. 

“Why are you in my lab?” Helen stared at the newcomers. 

“Because of him.” Strange closed the portal and gestured towards Tony. “ Two hours ago, I sensed a relatively high magic concentration on Earth. I tracked it down and it appears to be originating in his organism. It is a harmful type of magic. Do you have any health issues that started a couple of hours ago?” 

Tony hesitated. He was dying, true, but he still wasn’t eager to share all his life’s woes with a guy he barely knew and with a guy who tried to kill him. But… he was dying. And now he had more motivation than ever to avoid it. “Yeah, my heart. The cells in it and the sternum started to decay.” He left out the fact that these were the same cells Helen fixed after Siberia.

Strange turned to Loki and murmured something that Tony wasn’t able to hear. However he was able to hear Loki’s reply.

“It’s the witch,” hissed the Asardian and continued to speak to Strange in a hushed voice.

“If you’re talking about Wanda Maximoff,” decided to intervene Tony, “I haven’t seen her since Leipzig and that’s about a month or so ago. No way it was her.”

Both mages turned to look at him. “Could be time-delayed,” said Loki, glancing at Strange.

“To cover it up,” continued Strange.

“We need to check the pattern. Stephen, can I? I think I-” said Loki but was interrupted by Strange.

“I’m the doctor, not you,” he said and turned to Tony, “ Dr. Stark, we believe a harmful and possibly fatal spell was planted in your body. I need to run a few tests to determine the giver and to remove it. Can I?” 

The universe was really pushing Tony today. After Afghanistan he had a lot of issues with all procedures related to his body. To trust someone he just met-

“Yes.” Tony thought of Anna. She just found out she had a dad, she didn’t deserve to lose him so soon afterward.

Helen gave him a concerned look. “Could these... tests in any way worsen his condition?” she said, addressing Strange.

“I have medical training and I can assure that no harm-”

“Just let him do his thing, Helen. It’s okay, I know who he is,” quietly said Tony to her.

Strange stepped up to Tony who was still lying flat on the examination bed and started doing some movements with his hands above Tony’s chest, producing various glowing orange shapes. 

After a few minutes of tense silence, he concluded, “It is the time-delayed spell designed to create a hole in one’s chest for a slow and painful inevitable death. However, the giver is somewhat immature and inexperienced and left very distinct loopholes, so I removed the spell, but not the damage it had already done. I also can confirm Loki’s theory that it was Wanda Maximoff who cast the spell, as her powers have a very distinct trace due to the nature of their… unorthodox acquisition and I have encountered her powers’ trace before when I visited Leipzig after the battle. I think that she planted the spell during the airport battle and designed it to become active later on so that nobody thinks it is her.” 

“Wow.” Tony exhaled. “I knew she hated me but not like slow-and-painful-inevitable-death-hated me.” 

A loud knock on the matte glass door startled him. 

“Keep quiet,” mouthed Helen, but before she could put up the curtain and walk to the door, it was flung open and a slim figure with fiery red hair made her way inside.

Pepper looked around the scene, noticing Loki and Strange, and when she saw Tony in the hospital bed, she inhaled and in the next second Tony could swear the building slightly trembled, as a loud scream exited Pepper’s mouth.

”What the fuck?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a kudos and a comment! Don't go too hard with critique on me please, I'm still new to this <3

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave kudos and a comment, they brighten my day! Go easy on me with the critique, please:)


End file.
